Sharing The Mission: Our All Saints School Advisory Council

In a parish, there are many different ministries, serving many different purposes. Some of them are behind the scenes and some are more visible. Some are big and some are small. Some serve right here on our campus, and others bring God’s love out into the world. However, at the heart of all these ministries is a desire to share God’s love and fulfill the mission of All Saints in our community.

And although it might not always be the first “ministry” to come to mind — especially as it doesn’t share a physical location with our parish — All Saints Catholic School is a significant outreach of our community, both regarding the number of people it serves, as well as the importance of its purpose of educating children in the faith. With this in mind, the School Advisory Council, or SAC, is a group of parents and sometimes other parishioners, who serve to ensure that our school is living its call to spread the beauty of our faith and the heart of All Saints’ charism.

“[The school] is a ministry of the parish and we’re trying to make sure we’re aligned in how our ministry should be carried out,” says Tony Lenhoff, who currently serves as the SAC President.

The parent of an All Saints graduate, as well as a current student, Tony has spent the past eight years serving on the School Advisory Council. Similar to the parish Pastoral Advisory Council, the School Advisory Council works alongside the school leadership to represent a variety of perspectives and expertise regarding the visioning and implementation of plans within the school community. Most members commit to a three-year term of service, to have members who can represent students of a variety of different grade levels. The Principal and Pastor are present at the SAC’s monthly meetings, as well as a representative of the Parish Advisory Council.

From events and finances to facilities and curriculum, the SAC helps to make decisions that allow our school to flourish. Recently, the SAC was involved with bringing the new STEAM — Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math — lab to our school, as well as working to unify students from our school and religious education programs, in aspects of sacramental preparation. This past year, we were called upon to help ensure a safe learning environment for our students and staff. Next year, the School Advisory Council will also be involved with our reaccreditation process.

Tony is grateful for how the parish has continually supported the mission of the school and hopes that parishioners will continue to take an active interest in how this important ministry seeks to form and invest in our youth, both academically and spiritually.

“This is a big ministry for the parish, and sometimes people don’t even know the school exists because we’re not physically on the site of the parish,” Tony says. “We have this awesome school — let’s all make sure we continue to get those benefits we signed up for when we built it.

“Please be comfortable to reach out to me or other council members to express thoughts or ideas of how we, at All Saints, can make Catholic education stronger in our parish,” he adds. “Collectively, if we’re making sure we’re gathering as many interests as possible into these discussions, then we’re more likely to make better decisions for the school moving forward. We’re a ministry and we’re trying to make sure we’re not just delivering an education, but that we’re promoting the faith, as well.”

The School Advisory Council is currently soliciting new members to begin the new fiscal year in July. Please prayerfully consider this opportunity to work with our school and parish staff to help guide and support the mission of the school.

If you would like more information on the All Saints School Advisory Council, or to find out how you can become involved in supporting our parish school, please contact President Tony Lenhoff at sac@allsaintsprek8.org. For more information about All Saints Catholic School, please visit https://www.allsaintsdallas.org/school/.